Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Former President of Estonia

Toomas Henrik Ilves served as president of Estonia from 2006 to 2016. During his presidency, he drove key initiatives in e-government and cyber security, for which the county has been acknowledged as a world leader.

His interest in computers began in childhood—Ilves learned to program at the age of 13—and he has been promoting Estonia’s IT development since the country restored its independence.

Ilves serves as the chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Cyber Security, and he is co-chair of The Global Futures Council on Blockchain Technology, a working group created by the World Economic Forum focusing on how blockchain technology can be used to improve the security of the internet.

He has published many essays and articles in Estonian and English on topics ranging from cyber security to history and literature to foreign policy. His books include essay collections in Estonian, Finnish, Latvian Hungarian and Russian.